April 2021 Challenge: Earth 2374

[Tiana]

For the land? No, it's not too much. The text is a bit harder to read now though, my advice would be to have dark text with a light glow or some other decision due to the white glow of the landmasses. I actually liked the original 'school textbook' scheme though.

[Tonquani]

For the land? No, it's not too much. The text is a bit harder to read now though, my advice would be to have dark text with a light glow or some other decision due to the white glow of the landmasses. I actually liked the original 'school textbook' scheme though.

Thanks Tiana, I actually quite liked the textbook thing too, although it was hardly "cyberpunk"

I agree with you completely about the text. I have redone it a bit so that it is better formed. I think it reads a bit better already, but will give it a slight dark glow right at the end I think.

Lots of tidying up the linework too - coastlines and international borders are a bit thinner and more consistent.

### Latest WIP ###
Earth 2374 black.jpg

[Kisachik the Wanderer]

Hi Tonquani!

Looking at your map I'm wondering which parts of the world would have been deserted. It's not just higher sea level that obviously would make people move out of the areas that have sunk, but in certain places where the tidal ranges are high, it would perhaps be dangerous or even impossible to live?

Honestly it doesn't look too bad, if places like Japan and Sri Lanka are still on the map. And I expected Panama Channel to be the size of entire Panama. If I was drawing this map, I'd disconnect the Americas from each other before sinking Florida, but I guess we imagine how this would go differently.

[rdanhenry]

The average elevations of Japan and Sri Lanka are above the highest point in Florida. Florida starts visibly shrinking at 5-10 meters sea rise, well before most of the Panama Canal would even be at sea level (and the isthmus itself is fairly mountainous. Again, the average elevation is greater than the highest point in Florida.)

[Kisachik the Wanderer]

I meant that I'd aim for really dramatic changes, like sinking those big islands first, then see what else would be left under water. Florida would be gone of course. Maybe it's because the world is so big that overall this much water doesn't seem to make a huge difference. Unless you live in Florida.

[rdanhenry]

Sea rise simply will not make Japan disappear. Even an extreme rise of 100 meters (which may not be reachable), while it would *almost* eliminate Florida, leaving only its highest peaks as islands, is still not going to do more than flood the lowlands of Japan. Japan would be a slightly smaller group of islands. If you were not very familiar with the shape of Japan, you'd probably miss it on a world map.

[Tonquani]

Sorry, I haven't checked this thread for a few days.

What I was trying to go for is a (relatively) realistic sea level raise assuming that all of the ice at both poles, Greenland, and most major mountain ranges melted. The general consensus among the scientific community is that sea level would rise by around 70-80 metres. Now the areas that would be covered by such a sea level rise would be large, but still quite varied. For example with the exception of West Africa, Mozambique and the North coastlines of Egypt, Libya and Algeria, most of Africa would be relatively unscathed. There would obviously be a coastal strip that would be lost all around the continent, but compared to other countries/continents, the effect would be relatively small. That is not to say that the effect on populations would not be catastrophic! After all a large proportion of the World's population lives in that strip of land between sea level and 70-80 metres.

Contrary to that, if you look at Brazil, it loses most of the lower lying parts of the Amazon Basin, along with yet more territory around other parts of the coast. Bangladesh almost completely disappears, many island nations, especially those coral reef islands in the tropics. The US loses Florida, apart from a little bit in the north, and the Mississippi delta moves approximately 400 miles North.

What would be interesting to extrapolate would be the effect of the changes on climate by that warming. I have no doubt that there would be some places more affected by tidal ranges than others, but I would imagine over time those would develop into tidal estuaries or similar. The major effect I beieve would be the further desertification of already dry interior parts of continents like the Sahara, and Gobi Deserts, and the vast majority of Australia (although that may be moderated by its new inland sea.

Anyway, enough ramblings for now. Here's an update. Not completely sure of the colour scheme as I am still playing about with opacities.

Sorry, yes I know the land glow effect is a bit irritating - I will tone it down significantly for the next WIP.

### Latest WIP ###
World2374.jpg

[Tonquani]

Finished this in the nick of time, methinks.

So, as a brief summary, the fight against climate change has been lost, and pretty much all surface ice has melted, resulting in a sea-level rise of some 75 metres. The bilk of the Earth's population has been forced to move inland over the last couple of centuries, leading to massive conflict over land. Most previously fertile, productive land has been lost. In addition, desertification has become far more common. Large parts of central North Africa have not seen rain for more than a century and have been abandoned.

### Latest WIP ###
Earth Political2374.jpg

[Tiana]

Yeah, almost out of time... nice map.

[arsheesh]

Great map concept, and wonderful execution as well. I enjoyed this glimpse of what the future may hold.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh